Family pitch rules not encouraging future members.
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I think you're changing the goal posts here, you talked about club sites :
the least services provided
but now you're saying it's based on your children's 'more to do at where C&J were
Which is it? the facilities on site or the things to do in the area?
Also maybe I'm on the wrong Norden farm but it doesn't appear to be HS?
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The Club does price its Sites individually, regardless of facilities available, including aspects such as mid week discounts, how much children are charged, where it is sited, different times of year, when seasonal pitches are available, etc... This is just standard business marketing practice, making the most income from the product available.
Smaller, commercial sites will find it easier to discount more, as they won't have to jump through the same administrative hoops as the Club does, and can make the most of slack periods by discounting them a lot heavier than the Club can. This is why seasonal pitches are such a good price when compared with normal touring rates, and why there are probably not enough to satisfy demand.
The issue for the OP is an interesting one, that of shared use of a seasonally pitched caravan, which at present, is not allowed within the current terms and conditions of the Club, even if they have taken out membership themselves.
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We prefer grass pitches in the 'warm' season. The 'warm' season is identified by me wearing Teva's, shorts and T shirt, normally runs from end of March to end of October
If I'm in long trousers and shoes, it can't be the 'warm' seasonFurther preference is for serviced grass pitches, which the CAMC doesn't offer. That other sites do and without a per diem premium.
Thankfully we are not all alike in our wants / needs / preferences.
Both NT and Haycraft are family sites. NF has more child friendly things to do on site. I only post from a contemporaneous family perspective.
If I post from a selfish perspective my favourite, but not my wife's, site is a little out of the way £21 per night all in grass pitch a few yards from the beach in cornwall. I don't say its name as it's a hidden gem and want to be able to get in again in the summer holidays. Don't post reviews on it. I learned decades ago not to tell of gems from St Foy, a then unknown ski resort that is now a concrete jungle after a radio DJ we took skiing blabbed on air!!!
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The one thing that gives the cc the edge over a lot of "family sites?"i.e. Haven type is that in peak they are far cheaper (off peak is diferent as Haven etc)do loss leaders, and on cc sites families are able to do their own thing instead of expecting their children to be spoon fed with entertainment out of the "Parents" hair 😴
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"This summer school holidays:
Haycraft - £33.40 per night
Norden Farm - £30.50 per night."
Or in the same area, you could stay at Ulwell Park for £49 a night. The point being that we all choose whatever site suits us best at the cost we find acceptable. For you that's obviously Norden Farm (although it's all grass and only 10A EHU which goes some way to explaining the price difference). But to say club sites are inevitably most expensive in the school holidays is simply wrong as illustrated here and in my earlier post regarding sites in Cornwall. In general, club sites site roughly in the middle of the price range for comparable alternatives.
Anyway, hope you have an excellent time at Norden or wherever you choose to go - the key is to decide and then make the most of your time away!
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Did you stay at either and visit the other last Easter in order to form a current view? We saw no uncleanliness, untidiness nor late night drinking parties, nor were any reported by our friends. A different era?
Were you a family including a 10 year old girl?
Both NT and Haycraft are family sites. NF has more child friendly things to do on site, ergo facilities. I only post from a contemporaneous family perspective.
The OP posted regarding his contemporaneous family perspective.
As I posted earlier the populous of CT appear a different demography to the current debate. What was the norm in days of yore is not the expectation of current families.
As another posting the image given by CT is not attractive to families, and therein lies the point. A point you prove in spades I'm afraid. CT is not a realistic shop window into the CAMC on site way. No wonder CAMC don't bother to engage and invest in CT. Sometimes it pays to be careful what is wished for.
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Having stayed at Ulwell Cottage, and seen it's massive reduction in touring pitches, replaced with statics, it's not a site we would visit again. It changed over time.
From my story of our first years caravanning covering August 2015- August 2016:
A few figures:
Number of nights away = 34.
Number of nights on CC sites = 15
Number of nights on CL = 2
Number of nights on commercial sites – 17
Lowest cost night = £14 on a CL with 10 Amp electric.
Lowest cost night with electric = £15 on a CC Rally.
Lowest cost night fully serviced pitch with leisure facilities = £18 on a commercial site. New Forest.
Fully serviced pitch night in school summer holidays = £30 on a commercial site with leisure facilities. Cornwall coast.
Grass pitch with electric night in school summer holidays = £33 on CC site. Trewhethitt Farm
Fully serviced CC pitch night in school summer holidays = £40 Chatsworth
Serviced pitch night in school holidays = £23 on a commercial site near Alton Towers.
Fully serviced pitch night with leisure facilities at Christmas = £23 on a commercial site. New Forest
CC Membership per night away = £2.71
Sorry to disappoint by posting actual figures that clearly illustrate our actual experience and costs. These have been posted before.
There is no point in recording actual figures since then as in the world of CT there are no lower fee sites that welcome families in the country other than those on the CAMC network from the posts by seasoned non contemporaneous family holiday makers with no limits on their holiday time due to penalties for school holidays.
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All those numbers! My brain hurts!!
I need to go to a quiet well managed Caravan Club site for a lie down for a few days. Which one I don't know, but any I pick will be to the same high standard.
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KS - it's a shame that you end your post with that rather disrespectful paragraph. You have given figures to back up your experience. Others have had a different experience, naturally.
At the end of the day, as I said earlier, we all choose the sites which serve us best at the prices we find acceptable. Club sites are neither the cheapest nor most expensive; they are neither the most luxurious or the most basic. What they do is to provide a consistently good quality site and pitch at around about the median price for comparable alternatives. If that's acceptable, one will choose to use them, if not one must look for an alternative. Simples, really!
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I do not remember how long ago it was that my membership card was looked at closely enough to see the name, if it was even involved in booking in at all.
And quite often the site fees are actually paid by my girlfriend (bless!).
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Wow .....man on a mission I bet he reads the Terms & Conditions on every site before he books .
As a member I reserve the right to use CMC sites as & when I choose , there are times when we all get caught out by the ' small print ' but that's our fault for not reading it .......no one else's.😘
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. . . . and you can bath the children!
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In packs?
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As with Ulwell cottage it is quite noticeable how many "comercial touring sites" both in the UK and "over there"are putting in more "static"type of accomadation ,is it because they are finding it more lucrative ,against trying to compete, with the cost of rising prices and an older population not wanting to tour so much, as is found with the over subscribing of any sites that have seasonal pitches and also then not relying on peak time and prices to keep solvent
Just a diferent train of thought
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As I know nothing about Club sites I’m the perfect person to comment!
Of course, I would read the terms and conditions before paying but I would have expected to be able to treat the seasonal pitch like a static caravan I.e. anybody can use it whenever they like. If my family and friends were using it, I would give them the key and tell them to park up. Why would they check in with the wardens? The very few Club sites that we have stayed at seem like static parks anyway.
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I am tempted to say that this comment tells me that you appear to know even less about static caravan sites, but it could just be a wind-up.
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Actually, that's not true in two respects, H.
Unlike a heavily discounted seasonal pitch, for a static you pay a considerable ground rent. In addition you pay for electricity and gas (and in some cases, water rates.) In return, friends & family are allowed to use it without further payment but are required to check in with the site owners. (At least that is true for our static in Cornwall.)
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Why would they check in with the Wardens?
To collect a barrier fob and a code for the facility block, out of courtesy, to make the site staff aware the van is occupied in the event of a fire. I’m sure I’ll think of a few more reasons in a moment......
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